Barcelona has emerged as one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations, and it's not hard to see why. With a stunning diversity of architecture, from the medieval of the Barrio Gótico to the Modernism of Antonio Gaudí, works from artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg on street corners, world class museums and galleries, and music festivals such as The Festival del Grec every June, the city has a wealth of culture to offer its visitors. It is divided into different barrios, all of which are completely individual and are perfectly spaced to explore on foot. Barcelona is enjoying a culinary renaissance, too, and boasts some of the most inventive cuisine in the world. Go here to drink wine in lively bars, savour the taste of Spain in traditional tapas restaurants, and soak up the atmosphere of this vibrant and cosmopolitan Catalan city. For the latest information on this wonderful city, iPhone users should download our Barcelona City Guide app.

Where to stay in Barcelona

ABAC RESTAURANT HOTEL Avinguda Tibidabo 1, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 6600; abacbarcelona.com). With Xavier Pellicer at the helm, Abac in Carrer Rec was for eight years the most reliable of the city's alta cocina eateries. Now Pellicer has taken the place to new heights with his Abac Restaurant Hotel. He has covered all the bases, with a 15-room hotel in what was once a grand home, a chic modern restaurant, a bar and a bistro with a €50 lunch menu, all surrounded by luscious gardens. Doubles from €140 (about £100) BORN HOTEL Calle Princesa 50 entresuelo, El Born, Barcelona (00 34 93 295 4652; www.chicandbasic.com). The Born Hotel is in a quiet spot between the busy El Born district and lush Parc de la Ciutadella, a 15-minute walk from the sea. This 19th-century palace is revved up with a quirky, white-on-white palette. Guests include young Europeans and plenty of Brits. There are 31 bedrooms in 'medium', 'large' and 'extra-large' sizes. It's worth paying extra for a balcony looking onto bustling calle Princesa. The hotel's White Bar annex doubles as a hip breakfast room, at night there's light Mediterranean fare in a retro-disco atmosphere. The black-and-white lounge has free Wi-fi and snacks. Doubles from €217 (about £55)

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CASA CAMPER Carrer Elisabets 11, Barcelona (00 34 93 342 62 80; www.casacamper.com ). Located in the heart of the Raval with its trendy bars and restaurants, and minutes away from the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Centre of Contemporary Culture and the Ramblas, the hotel is a great base to explore the city. Casa Camper is owned by the Mallorcan shoe company of the same name and designed by Catalan Fernando Amat. With a private 'mini-lounge' across the corridor from each room where guests can watch TV from a hammock, blood-red walls in the bedrooms, and instructions to 'express yourself' and 'walk not run', this is a quirky and fun place to stay. Casa Camper featured in The Hot List 2005. Doubles from €217 (about £156) GRANADOS 83 HOTEL Carrer Enric Granados 83, Eixample Esquerra, Barcelona (00 34 93 492 9670; www.derbyhotels.com). There is a point, and we're near it now, when chilly hotel minimalism becomes a bore, and people realise that what they wanted all along was comfort, service and a frisson of glamour. In the heart of the bourgeois Eixample district, Granados 83 Hotel provides all that. The rooms are smart and up-to-the-minute, but not scarily so. There is brick, glass and visible RSJs, but there's also leather and marble. Downstairs is a rather groovy bar and on the top floor is a dreamy little terrace for a quiet drink under the stars. Call it a design hotel for grown-ups. Doubles from €100 (about £72) GRAN HOTEL CENTRAL Via Layetana 30, Barcelona (00 34 93 295 7900; www.grandhotelcentral.com). In a prime location, with the fashionable Born district, the Cathedral and the Barrio Gótico on its doorstep, this elegant 1926 building has been sleekly renovated to provide spacious rooms in muted tones, with generous sized bathrooms complete with Korres toiletries. The rooftop infinity pool offers spectacular views of the city. Chef Ramon Freixa presides over the Avalon Restaurant & Cafe, serving innovative Mediterranean cuisine. Doubles from €210 (about £150)

GRAN HOTEL SILKEN HAVANA Gran Vía de Les Corts Catalanes 647, Barcelona (00 34 933 417 001; www.granhotelhavana.com). A slightly cheaper alternative to the Claris, which is located in the same district. The old façade is still in place, whereas tradition has been dispensed with inside, with sleek modern rooms. The hotel has145 rooms and suites, and has a good restaurant, as well as a rooftop pool. Doubles from €120 (about £86)

GRAN HOTEL LA FLORIDA Carretera Vallvidrera al Tibidabo 83-89, Barcelona (00 34 93 259 3000; www.hotellaflorida.com). At 300 metres above sea level on the top of Tibidabo hill, with breath-catching views of the Mediterranean and the city, Gran Hotel La Florida is at the summit of Barcelona's grand hotels. Recently given a lavish makeover, the hotel has everything you could wish for in the way of five-star luxury, including seven Design Suites, each in its own distinctive style: one is airy and loft-like, another muted and elegant, a third dark and plush. Some have rooftop areas with outside Jacuzzis and staggering views. La Florida's only disadvantage is its distance from the city centre. Once installed in your Design Suite, however, you may find it too great a wrench to leave. The Gran Hotel La Florida featured in The Hot List 2004. Doubles from €150 (about £108) HOSTAL D'UXELLES Gran Via 688, Barcelona (00 34 93 265 2560; www.hotelduxelles.com). Barcelona fairly heaves with cheap lodgings but few have anything like the charm of the Uxelles. The hostal is on the principal (the Barcelona term for the piano nobile) floor of an Eixample apartment block on a busy corner of the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and calle Girona. The decor is best described as 'budget Louis XV' with stuccoed ceilings, gold-framed mirrors and fancy furniture, while, in the bedrooms, swags of fabric hang over iron bedsteads and white walls are painted with fripperies. Most of the rooms have balconies, and seven have pretty terrazas for sitting out of an evening. The small bathrooms, lined with Spanish tiles, owe more to Seville than Barcelona. Two possible drawbacks of the Uxelles might be the lack of air conditioning (rooms have ceiling fans) and the traffic noise from the four-lane Gran Via. Otherwise, this is an eminently good-value place to stay. £ HOSTAL GIRONA Calle Girona 24, (1 floor, door 1) Barcelona (00 34 93 265 0259; www.hostalgirona.com). The 19th-century Eixample was Barcelona's answer to Hausmann's project for Paris, designed on the grid plan with wide streets running north and south. The Hostal Girona is a historic pension occupying three floors of an Eixample apartment building, run for the past 20 years by the López Berlanga family. The Hostal is architecturally fascinating: the central staircase is a piece of gloomy modernismo, looking like something out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and the marble fireplaces, decorated ceilings and coloured floor tiles are all original. All 20 bedrooms have air conditioning but a few only have a shower. The Hostal's public places are full of antiques and paintings. The whole place is immaculately maintained. Service, courtesy of Senor Lopez's widow and three of their children, is friendly and efficient. For an extra 10 euros a night, its worth asking for an external room: they have balconies onto the street. In any case you'll need to book at least two months in advance. Doubles from €35 (about £25)

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HOTEL 1898 La Rambla 109, Barcelona (00 34 93 552 9552; www.nnhotels.es). Housed in the empty shell of the Filipinas Tobacco company building, Hotel 1898 was opened in October 2005. 1898 has two libraries, a gym, out- and indoor pools, and a spa. Its 169 rooms are stylishly decorated in white, red and black and are all soundproof. Located in the Raval, at the heart of Barcelona, the hotel has close access to a great number of Barcelona's must-see sights. ££ HOTEL ABBA RAMBLA Rambla del Raval 4, Barcelona (00 34 93 505 5400; fax: 505 5401; www.abbahoteles.com). This excellent three-star is the first hotel to be built on the new Rambla del Raval, an avenue created by blitzing 10 blocks of the scruffy Raval neighbourhood. There are still elements of inner-city roughness in the area (watch your bag), but these will surely diminish as gentrification continues. In the meantime, for those who enjoy the unique buzz of an urban barrio that has so far made few concessions to tourism, the Abba is a clever and reasonably priced hotel option. At this price, the hotel can't be described as luxurious, but the streamlined decor and up-to-date facilities are more than agreeable. Of the 49 rooms, 41 overlook the palm-tree lined Rambla. All have parquet floors, air-conditioning and plasma screen TVs. One ground floor room is specially designed for the disabled. The hotel also has wireless Internet access and a garage: a real bonus given the Raval's chaotic parking situation. Another major plus is the number of restaurants to be found close by: the Colibri in calle Riera Alta (see Where to Eat), for example, is a pioneer of Modern Catalan cooking in the neighbourhood. £ HOTEL ARTS Carrer de la Marina 19-21, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 1000; www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/barcelona). Located in one of the twin towers of 1992's Vila Olímpica, Hotel Arts is worth considering for its magnificent views. From its windows you can see the low-rise city stretch back to Mount Tibidabo, the beaches and the Mediterranean. This Champagne-coloured skyscraper has elegant interiors with an abundance of flowers. The rooms are light-filled and spacious and combine unobtrusive, sleek furniture with arresting views. Two-Michelin-starred chef Sergi Arola's new-wave tapas restaurant has an exclusive chef's table; the terrace is a hot spot for cocktails. The fantastic Six Senses spa on the 43rd floor has stupendous views and there are hammocks in the garden. Hotel Arts featured in The Gold List 2007. ££££ HOTEL AVENIDA PALACE Gran Vía Corts Catalanes 605-607, Barcelona (00 34 93 301 9600; www.avenidapalace.com). Just off the Passeig de Gracia, the principal avenue of the Eixample, this is where the Beatles stayed when they came to Barcelona in 1967. Recently refurbished, the hotel has 151 rooms. The interior of the hotel, converted from a tearoom and concert hall in 1952, is accentuated by a fine gilded stairway and pleasantly dated period features. £ HOTEL BANYS ORIENTAL Carrer Argenteria 37, Barcelona (00 34 93 268 8460; www.hotelbanysorientals.com). Set in the trendy Born area, the low-key entrance in this hotel's 18th-century exterior leads to a beautiful modern and monochrome interior. The 43 rooms showcase Philippe Starck's Perspex Kartell chairs, Iroko four-poster beds and black-tiled showers. The best - and noisiest - rooms are the ones at the front with a view, but the hotel also offers suites in the adjacent building. There is no restaurant or room service in the hotel, but breakfast is served, and the excellent Parellada restaurant shares the hotel's front door. Hotel Banys Oriental featured in The Hot List 2003. £ HOTEL CLARIS BARCELONA Pau Claris 150, Barcelona (00 34 93 487 6262; www.derbyhotels.es). Hotel Claris has a lovingly designed interior that includes owner Jordi Clos' Egyptian and Roman art collection. With a health club and pool on the roof, Clos has shown a typically Barcelonan flair for mixing the very old with the very new. The hotel is located in a discreet 19th-century palace in smart, leafy and rationalist Eixample, and boasts three different restaurants. ££ HOTEL ESPANA Calle Sant Pau 9-11, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 1758; www.hotelespanya.com). Hotel España, located in the heart of the once infamous Raval (formerly known as Barrio Chino) just behind the Liceu opera house, has been modernised in a fairly unsophisticated fashion. However, it is deservedly famous for the stunning Modernist decor of the ground floor salones, designed by Gaudí's contemporary Domènech i Montaner, one of the period's three great architectural figures. £ HOTEL GRAND MARINA Moll de Barcelona, Barcelona (00 34 93 603 9000; www.grandmarinahotel.com). A luxurious contemporary interior housed in the imposing Lego-like and curved World Trade Centre in Port Vell. The Hotel Grand Marina has 196 double rooms, 38 suites and one Presidential Suite. Even the entry-level rooms are big by Barcelona's standards, and every room has a water-massage bath, which is sheer heaven. The top-floor Presidential Suite, used by Julio Iglesias when he is in town, is the last word in sybaritic luxury. ££ HOTEL INGLES Carrer Boqueria, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 3770; www.hotel-ingles.com). Rather than revamp itself entirely, the one-star Hotel Inglés, right in the middle of Ciutat Vella, has modernised slowly without losing its local charm. Some rooms look onto the Plaça del Pi, the square in which one of the city's smaller cathedrals is located, and the hotel is within easy walking distance of the Ramblas, Plaça Catalunya and the Mercado de la Boqueria. £ HOTEL JARDI Plaça Sant Josep Oriol 1, Plaça del Pí, Barcelona (00 34 93 301 5900/58; www.hoteljardi-barcelona.com). Hotel Jardí is basic but spotlessly clean. This is a very popular choice given its excellent position overlooking a picturesque square in Barrio Gótico and the competent service. £ HOTEL NOUVEL Santa Ana 18-20, Barcelona (00 34 93 301 8274; www.hotelnouvel.com). Located on a pedestrian street in the shopping zone of Barrio Gótico, the Nouvel is an excellent spot from which to explore the Old City on foot. Recently restored, the elegant 1917 building has retained its original characteristic tiled floors. The hotel has 78 rooms and a restaurant serving international fare. £ HOTEL OMM Rosselló 265, Barcelona (00 34 93 445 4000; fax: 445 4004; www.hotelomm.es). Architect Juli Capella's desire to let light in without compromising the guests' privacy resulted in a vast and open ground floor, accommodating a lounge, cocktail bar, tasting tables and a restaurant. The floor overlooks a glass-fronted courtyard with giant bamboo and stainless steel plant sculptures that reflect the light. The Matrix-like corridors upstairs are lined with black rubber and lit by fibre optic strips. The rooms are functional and a 'floating' white-lacquered aluminium unit separates the bedrooms and bathrooms. Hotel Omm has also created a buzz around its restaurant, Moo (see Where to Eat), run by the Roca brothers from Celler de Can Roca. The menu offers 'half' portions to encourage experimentation, and the desserts are inspired by perfumes. The hotel has a pool and wellness centre, Spaciomm, with massage and water treatments. Hotel Omm was featured in The Hot List 2004. ££ HOTEL PRESTIGE PASEO DE GRACIA Paseo de Gracia 62, Barcelona (00 34 93 272 4180; www.prestigepaseodegracia.com). An unmarked silver door leads to the quirky, Zen-influenced interior of the Paseo de Gracia. Situated on the street with the same name, Barcelona's smartest shopping boulevard, the hotel is close to Gaudí's showcase Casa Batlló. By far the best thing about the hotel is the designer details: the intelligent lighting systems and TVs by Bang & Olufsen in all rooms. Ask Me, the hotel's computerised concierge service, can do anything. ££ HOTEL REY JUAN CARLOS I Avenida Diagonal 661-671, Barcelona (00 34 93 364 4040; www.hrjuancarlos.com). Opened just in time for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I comes with landscaped gardens and a 15-storey glass and metal atrium. The hotel has both a restaurant and award-winning spa. Located somewhat out of town, but handy for travellers interested in the business district. ££ HOTEL SANT AGUSTI Plaça de San Agustí 3, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 1658; fax: 317 2928; www.hotelsa.com). Housed in the 18th-century Convent of Saint Augustine, Hotel San Agustí has been in business since 1840, the days of Queen Isabela II. The hotel has 75 sparsely decorated rooms, a restaurant for dinner only, and a perfect location next to the Liceu Opera House. £ PARK HOTEL Avenida Marques de L'Argentera 11, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 6000; www.parkhotelbarcelona.com). Long-time fans of the Park are used to playing this card close to their chest. One can understand their jealousy: few Barcelona hotels offer this combination of comfort, architectural interest and value for money. The Park stands opposite the old Estacio de Franca railway, at the southern end of the Born district, minutes from the Ciutadella park and Barceloneta beach. The slender, seven-storey building is a genuine 1950s gem and a popular backdrop for fashion shoots. The hotel has been lovingly restored, with details such as mosaic-tiled columns, glass brick walls and gently curving wooden handrails left intact. The soundproofed and air-conditioned rooms are decorated in a soothing shade of café latte, with leather chairs and huge plasma-screen TVs. The Park has the advantage of having one of Barcelona's finest restaurants, Abac (see Where to Eat), on its ground floor, and guests breakfast in its chic dining room. At other times the lobby bar is a great place to hang-out: half close your eyes and you could be an extra in an Elvis Presley movie. ££ THE B HOTEL Gran Via 389-391, plaça de Espanya, Barcelona (00 34 93 552 9500; www.nnhotels.es). The B Hotel is in front of plaça de Espanya's Palau de Congressos, home to some of Europe's most important expos. There is a cool, industrial interior with designer touches from Catalan architect Alfredo Arribas. The hotel has many European business travellers and a smattering of Americans. The decor is light and airy with wood-and-slate floors. Coloured-glass cube bathrooms add a contemporary edge. B-Bar's top-flight range of tapas is matched by Spanish wines. There are views of the plaça de Espanya and Las Arenas from the half-moon-shaped roof terrace. ££

Where to eat out in Barcelona

CAFES Coffee in Barcelona comes in two languages and three broad categories with minor variations. With a light breakfast, a croissant for example, you drink café con leche (or café amb llet in Catalan). At other times and after meals, you drink café solo (simply un café in Catalan), which is an espresso, or un cortado (un tallat), an espresso 'cut' with a dash of milk. Café doble, a double shot of café solo, is a fearsome caffeine hit, but be careful when you order it - if the waiter sees that you are foreign they might bring you a café Americano, a solo with water. Ask for a café solo corto or muy corto - a solo with less water - if you want to take caffeine to extremes. The muy corto is just one small gulp of coffee at the bottom of a cup. Also try the carajillo, a café solo with brandy. If you don't mind being difficult, ask for a carajillo quemado - a burnt carajillo with a smoother brandy flavour. A good restaurant should do this for you, but a normal bar probably won't.

BAR KASPARO Plaça de Vicenç Martorell 4, Barcelona (00 34 93 302 2072; www.barcelona-on-line.es/locals/bars/kasparo/). Bar Kasparo, run by Catalanised Australians near Plaça de Catalunya, has colonised the corner of a quiet square just off the main thoroughfares and set out its tables under the arches. Serving light lunches as well as coffees and drinks, it is one of the few quiet places in the city centre in which to sit out and plan your next move.

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BRACAFE Casp 2, Barcelona (00 34 93 302 3082; www.bracafe.com). Bracafé has a conservatory-styled front that invades the pavement and provides a perfect observation post for the mid-town, mid-morning bustle in the winter. In the summer, the tables are set up under an awning and the waiters expertly dodge passers-by to bring you your coffee. Bracafé has served coffee since 1929 and is still as popular as ever.

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CAFE DE L'OPERA La Rambla 74, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 7585; www.cafeoperabcn.com). After Café Zurich (see below) this is the next best place for people watching. Recline around the wooden tables in the gilded interior and try to guess the nationalities of the clients.

CAFES EL MAGNIFICO Carrer Argenteria 64, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 3975; www.cafeselmagnifico.com). Home-blended and roasted coffee has been served at this address since 1919. The café has a great tea range for non-coffee drinkers, including a category temptingly called 'Fantasias'. The coffee comes from around the world, and includes an Australian-grown variety.

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CAFE ZURICH Plaça Catalunya 1, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 9153). The old Zurich was knocked down with the rest of the block a few years ago, but the new one has replicated its proportions in an updated style. The only café with a terrace in the city's most frequented central square, Zurich faces down La Rambla directly beside the metro and suburban train exits. Millions of people must have arranged to meet here over the years - the traffic of people, past and through the café, is constant - making it the best place for people watching in Barcelona. The bright metal tables at the front are the essential element. It is best to pay the waiter when you are served, unlike in other cafés, so you can leave without bothering him again.

FIDEL Ferlandina 24, Barcelona (00 34 93 304 1439). A life-saving bar for hungry clubbers in the Raval, just a short walk from the Museum of Contemporary Art. Fidel often stays open another hour or so after 1.30am. It offers 500 sandwiches, the best featuring melted Camembert and asparagus.

LAIE LIBRERIA CAFE Pau Claris 85, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 1739; www.laie.es). Laie Libreria Café is a café and restaurant above an excellent bookshop, with a glass-fronted gallery set back from the street on the first floor and a small garden at the back. The bookshop includes a small but sophisticated English selection, the café has newspapers and magazines for its clients, and the restaurant at the back serves an excellent, moderately-priced set lunch on crisp white tablecloths.

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RESTAURANTS

ABAC RESTAURANT HOTEL Avinguda Tibidabo 1, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 6600; www.abacbarcelona.com). Abac in Carrer Rec was for eight years the most reliable of the city's alta cocina eateries. Now, the kitchen is presided over by chef Jordi Cruz, who has maintained the restaurant's two-Michelin-star status with his creative take on international cuisine.

ALBA GRANADOS Carrer Enric Granados 34, Barcelona (00 34 93 454 6116; www.albagranados.com). The place has made a name for itself as one of the city's best, and emphasis is placed on ingredients rather than technique. Red meats are a speciality, including a superb chuletón de buey (T-bone ox steak), as are eggs - the huevos estrellados are a favourite first course. Alba Granado has some 150 different wines from major Spanish D.O.s.

ALKIMIA Carrer Indústria 79, Barcelona (00 34 93 207 6115; www.alkimia.cat). The Michelin-starred Alkimia is led by Jordi Vilá, a supremely gifted young cook, and his business partner Sonia Profitós. Opened after their cult venture Abrevadero closed, Alkimia offers food with a modern touch that is neither strident nor forced. Vilá's rice with ñora peppers and salt cod is a signature dish, as is the sautéed banana with ice cream of yoghurt, cinnamon and lime. The haute-industrial design of the restaurant works like a dream, but the price to pay for being touched by fashion's magic want is that the place is booked solid for weeks in advance. Try to get a table for lunch on Monday or Tuesday and you may have a chance of getting in the door.

AROLA Carrer de la Marina 19-21, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 1000; www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/barcelona). Sergi Arola's two-Michelin-starred restaurant, La Broche, transformed the gastronomic life of Madrid and this is his Barcelona venture. Housed in the same building as Hotel Arts Barcelona, Arola is a much more relaxed affair than La Broche. Fashion victims salivate over the setting while their gastronomic friends admire the extraordinary menu with its thoroughly modern tapas-like dishes for grazing. Designer snacks are the order of the day - mix and match at will - but don't overlook the more substantial offerings such as arroz guisado con pichón (rice with pigeon) and salt cod confit with pil-pil of peas. DJ nights complete the picture of this immaculately stylish contemporary eating-place.

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BALTHAZAR Carrer Rosselló 189, Barcelona (00 34 93 217 8250; www.restaurantbalthazar.com). Chain restaurants don't tend to inspire confidence, but the Andilana group has won over a loyal clientele with Quinze Nits, La Fonda and La Dolça Hermínia. Each is different, yet the basic concept is the same: exquisite interiors, modern market cooking and reasonable prices. Balthazar, the group's outpost in the western Eixample, has chiaroscuro decor with a touch of the Orient. You can dine here for €20 per person, with wine: a bargain.

BARCELONETA L'Escar 22, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 2111; www.rte-barceloneta.com). There are plenty of restaurants offering cocina marinera (seafood cooking) in Barcelona, but few places work as brilliantly as Barceloneta. A busy seaside joint on the upper floor of a modern dockside building in Port Vell, the restaurant is packed with families enjoying a long lunch on weekends. The menu provides something for everyone, from tapas and raciones, fish, salads and classic Catalan rice dishes, to the freshest possible shellfish. Daily specials chalked up on a board offer edited highlights of Mercado Boqueria's glorious fish section.

BAR SALVADOR Canvis Nous 8, Barcelona (00 34 93 310 1041). A narrow, authentic, family-run restaurant, Bar Salvador opens at 9am and only serves breakfast and lunch. A true Catalan breakfast consists of bread smeared with tomato, sprinkled with salt and spattered with olive oil as a base, and then cheese, anchovies, cured ham, llonganisseta and fuet (like salami) or other types of cold meat or fish on top. Bacon, eggs and omelettes are on order, and if you want to adopt a new-fangled French custom they will even provide you with a croissant.

BIBLIOTECA Carrer Junta de Comerç 28, Barcelona (00 34 93 412 6221; www.bibliotecarestaurant.cat). This restaurant is much admired for its interior, its bookshelves of cutting-edge cookbooks and the intelligent cooking. Check the website for opening hours.

CA L'ISIDRE Carrer Les Flors 12, Barcelona (00 34 93 441 1139; www.calisidre.com). The nondescript Carrer Les Flors seems an odd location for a restaurant that is routinely spoken of as a reference point in Barcelona. Isidre Gironés and his wife Montse have had their place on the edge of the Raval since 1970. The dining room is posh but comforting, and so is the menu. Market cooking at its very best, the food reflects the changing seasons as well as the grand tradition of rural Catalan cuisine. Hardcore classics such as bacallà a la llauna or callos con garbanzos (tripe with chickpeas) alternate with refined and cosmopolitan dishes such as black-truffle risotto and tuna sirloin with sea salt and tomato coulis. The modern sensibility is partly down to the Gironés' daughter Nuria, who now runs the kitchen. In early spring, don't miss the favetes - tiny baby broadbeans served with sautéed baby squid, fresh garlic and mint: sublime.

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CAL PEP Plaça de les Olles 8, Barcelona (00 34 93 310 7961; www.calpep.com). What started out as little more than a Frankfurt (the local word for sausage stall) has metamorphosed into one of the city's most scintillating restaurants. 'Pep's Place' never fails to please, with top-notch raw materials simply prepared behind the bar in a frenzy of sizzling and scorching. Seafood is a strong point, notably the baby octopus and cuttlefish deep-fried Andalucian style. Pull up a stool and watch the spectacle unfold; or, for a more leisurely atmosphere, try for one of the tables in the dining room at the back. If you're not outside when Pep rolls up the shutters at lunchtime, you'll have to queue. Check the website for opening times.

CAN MAJO Almirall Aixada 23, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 5455; www.canmajo.es). This restaurant is the most established seafood venue located in Barceloneta, the Ciutat Vella barrio known for its fish restaurants. Can Majó manages to combine the workmanlike, no-frills tradition of Barceloneta cuisine with faultless execution. Urban renovation has cleaned up the seafront and knocked down crumbling blocks and has given Can Majó the sea view terrace it has always lacked. Arròs negre (rice blackened with squid ink), fideus amb marisc (thin pasta straws with seafood) or arròs amb llamantol (rice with lobster) are local specialities on a par with the better-known paella.

CASA LEOPOLDO Carrer San Rafael 24, Barcelona (00 34 93 441 3014; www.casaleopoldo.com). Famous for its seafood, this Raval institution was saved by a whisker from the demolition ball. Check the website for lunchtime opening hours.

CIUDAD CONDAL Rambla de Catalunya 18, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 1997). Ciudad Condal opened in 1997 and is known for its extensive choice of beer and tapas. It is almost always full and very lively, and there is an outside terrace on Rambla Catalunya for summer dining.

COMERC 24 Carrer del Comerç 24, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 2102; www.comerc24.com). Chef Carles Abellan, a disciple of El Bulli's Ferran Adrià, is another proponent of the new wave of Catalan cuisine. The restaurant offers taster menus with tapas-sized portions, although the menu changes constantly, dishes include his famous 'Kinder Egg', an eggshell filled with truffles, potatoes and a three-minute egg, or curry-scented banana soup. The restaurant is set in the trendy Born district and is a study in industrial chic.

ELS PESCADORS Plaça Prim 1, Barcelona (00 34 93 225 2018; www.elspescadors.com). This enchanting little restaurant in the Poblenou district dates back to the medieval era when it functioned as a fishermen's tavern. Despite an ill-advised refit in 1990, the place still has a great deal of charm. Fish is, naturally enough, the cornerstone of the menu and contacts with local fishermen ensure that quality and freshness are second to none. Go with the catch of the day, or try one of the menu's 10 different rice dishes, such as an arroz cremoso of prawns and goat's cheese. Desserts - which include homemade sorbets and ice creams made from local products (turrón, mandarines, and Maresme strawberries) - are worth saving a space for. There is also a children's menu and a small library of books to keep younger patrons occupied.

EL XIRINGUITO ESCRIBA Ronda Litoral 42, Platja Bogatell, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 0729; www.escriba.es). Owned and run by the Escribá family, whose patisseries are among the best in Barcelona, this beachside restaurant comes close to the ideal, with good music, friendly service, and the sight, sound and scent of the Mediterranean. Towels are provided in summer, blankets in winter. Dogs are even offered bowls or water upon arrival. And the food is a delight: sardines grilled with mint, tuna carpaccio, or confit of octopus with potatoes might be followed by a classic paella or fideuà .

GARGANTUA I PANTEGRUEL Carrer Còrsega 200, Barcelona (00 34 93 453 2020). The González family hails from Lleida, the Catalan city furthest from the sea, and this long-running restaurant celebrates its earthily authentic cuisine. The great lleidatà specialities are all present and correct, from snails a la llauna and a la gormanda (with ham and breadcrumbs) to coca de recapte (roast-vegetable tart), and bacallà amb mel (salt cod with honey). The chargrilled meats are superb: few restaurants in Barcelona at this level would dare to serve such a simple, but good, chicken a la brasa. If all this rusticity leads you to expect surroundings to match, think again. The spacious dining room is slickly and expensively designed. It may sound unlikely, but it works.

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HOFMANN Argenteria 74-78, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 5889; www.hofmann-bcn.com). Hofmann was opened by Mey Hofmann, of German and Catalan parents, after she founded the Arnadi School of Catering in the same building in 1983. Hoffmann offers a variety of small dining rooms and one comfortable salon with slightly twee floral-cushioned benches, but the cooking is serious. Check the website for opening details.

MOO Rosselló 265, Barcelona (00 34 93 445 4000; www.hotelomm.es). This stylish hotel has an equally stylish restaurant, Moo. Led by the Roca brothers from Celler de Can Roca in Girona, dishes at Moo include suckling pig confit, timbale of apple and foie gras with vanilla oil and lamb cooked with liquorice. Don't miss the brothers' famous culinary recreation of perfumes, such as Calvin Klein's Eternity and Thierry Mugler's Angel, for your pudding. A special menu matches half-portion-sized dishes with wines recommended by the Rocas.

PINOTXO Mercat de la Boqueria, puesto 66-67, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 1731). Hardly a restaurant by any conventional definition of the term, this market bar with just 15 stools is a major meeting point for gastronomes in the know. Pinotxo is all things to all people, from market workers building up their strength on its hearty breakfasts, to the shoppers and tourists who flock here for delicious pa amb tomàquet and classic Catalan lunch. There is no menu, and ordering can be fairly chaotic. Choose your food from the ingredients displayed on the counter - which are usually done a la plancha or fried - or try one of the steaming casseroles emerging from the tiny kitchen.

REIAL CLUB MARITIM DE BARCELONA Moll d'España, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 1775; www.maritimbarcelona.org). The Barcelona Royal Maritime Club is another place with a supreme view, and you don't need a membership to frequent it. Located opposite the huge Maremagnum entertainment complex in the middle of the port, the restaurant specialises in seafood, paellas of all types and reliable Catalan-style fish dishes. The dining room has large windows and an adjoining balcony from which you have a panoramic view on the city's seafront. Enter up the steps under the small awning on the side of the building to reach the restaurant instead of going through the main doors to the club itself.

ROIG ROBI Carrer Sèneca 20, Barcelona (00 34 93 218 9222; www.roigrobi.com). Roig Robí serves relaxed unpretentious food that suits the rhythm of place. Its rice dishes, made with special Bomba rice from the Ebro delta, are famous in the city, and the spinach and pine nut coca with foie gras is superb. The setting of the restaurant is also excellent - it is one of the few of Barcelona's restaurants that have tables in the open air. The walled garden is leafy and shaded at midday, and a trickling fountain provides a soothing backdrop.

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TORRE D'ALTA MAR Passeig Joan de Borbó 88, Barcelona (00 34 93 221 0007; www.torredealtamar.com). Entrepreneur Oscar Manresa caused a sensation when he opened a restaurant in this cable-car tower beside the old port in 2002. The dining room appears to be hovering in mid-air with 75 metres to the ground - and it indeed seems to sway on a windy day. The view from here is the best in Barcelona: on one side you have a wide expanse of ocean, on the other the entire city laid out with a backdrop of mountains. Perhaps conscious that the sight was always going to be the main attraction, the kitchen keeps the food simple by focusing on top-quality seafood and luxurious fish dishes. Try the rice with lobster, sea bass on spinach and asparagus, or suquet de peix (Catalan fish stew). An aura of glamour hangs over the whole experience, from the doorman who ushers you into the lift, to the venue itself with its white sofas and black walls.

LA VENTA Plaça del Doctor Andreu, Barcelona (00 34 93 212 6455; www.restaurantelaventa.com). La Venta is worth considering as much for its privileged position as its slightly conservative cuisine. The restaurant, with a Moorish interior and covered patio, can be reached via the Tranvia Blau, the tram that takes you up the hill of Tibidabo from the Plaça de la Bonanova. The spectacular view of the city is best from the cocktail bars opposite the restaurant.

OUTSIDE THE CITY

EL BULLI Cala Monjoi, Roses, Girona (00 34 97 215 0457; www.elbulli.com). About a half-hour drive from Figueres, set in Costa Brava creek, this restaurant has been called one of the most interesting restaurants in Europe. Every foodie has to make the pilgrimage here once in a lifetime. Regularly chosen by critics and cooks as the best restaurant in the world, the three-Michelin-starred El Bulli is well worth the drive. Do not go expecting traditional Spanish food however: chef Ferran Adrià's cuisine is experimental and cutting-edge, and he has been likened to both a scientist and artist, pioneering what is known as 'molecular gastronomy' with dishes such as white asparagus with lemon marshmallows, squid pillow with coconut milk and Spanish omelette served in a Martini glass. El Bulli is open from April to October. For the rest of the year Adrià perfects and invents dishes in 'El Taller', his workshop in Barcelona. You will need to book months in advance, and, unfortunately, the great restaurant will be closed after its fully-booked 2011 season to reopen under a new format in 2014. Read more about the closure here: /news/2010/january/restaurant-el-bulli-set-to-close

The best nightlife in Barcelona

BARS

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BAR MARSELLA Sant Pau 65, Barcelona (00 34 93 442 7263). Once famed as the best place to drink absinthe and for its weird amateur transvestite theatre, Bar Marsella in the Raval is still popular with foreign residents, locals and curious visitors. It is deeply downmarket, and a good place to taste the bohemian Raval atmosphere.

BOADAS COCKTAIL BAR Carrer Tallers 1, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 9592). One of Europe's finest cocktail bars, founded by a Cuban émigré in the 1940s. Boadas is a favourite of Raval locals, and few tourists find their way here.

CAFE VIENES Hotel Casa Fuster, Passeig de Gràcia 132, Barcelona (00 34 93 255 3006; www.hotelcasafuster.com). Casa Fuster, the final project of Art Noveau architect Lluis Domènch i Muntaner, dominates the Passeig de Gràcia from its corner site, seeming to gaze down towards the sea. The ground floor of this modernista masterpiece, now a five-star hotel houses the Café Vienés, a cocktail bar that evokes the intellectual atmosphere of early-20th-century Barcelona. The decoration comes perilously close to kitsch, but seems just right for the sultry atmosphere created by its Thursday jazz nights. All that's missing is the smoke.

DRY MARTINI Carrer Aribau 162-166, Barcelona (003 4 93 217 5080; www.drymartinibcn.com). Javier de las Muelas is the undisputed king of Barcelona's thriving cocktail-bar scene, and Dry Martini, his bar on a corner of the Eixample, is a temple to the classic art of cocktail mixology. Everything here is just as it should be, from the leather-plush interior and white-coated barmen to the cocktails themselves, which are prepared with a respect for tradition that borders on reverence. The dry Martini is stirred, not shaken, and exhilaratingly strong. At the back of the bar is the suitably discreet entrance to Speakeasy, a fine restaurant whose bottle-lined interior continues the Prohibition theme.

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EL XAMPANYET Montcada 22, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 7003). Paradoxically, you are best off going to a bar named after its sparkling wine to get a good caña, or draught beer. The draught beer is always slightly lighter and creamier than the bottled Estrella, Voll-Damm and San Miguel usually on offer. At El Xampanyet, you can also switch to fine wine, or the locally bottled xampanyet, a poor man's Champagne (not to be confused with the superior cava) if you so prefer.

GILMET Calle Santalo, 46, 08021 Barcelona (00 34 93 310 1027). Cool in the mid-1970s, Gilmet has amazingly never lost its cachet thanks to its simple, elegant design and highly professional barmen. A perfect venue for the late-night penultimo, the second-to-last drink.

KENTUCKY Carrer Arc del Teatre 11, Barcelona (00 34 93 318 2878). Once popular with sailors, truckers and hard-partiers, Kentucky is now everyone's final port of call on a late night in the Raval.

LA CONFITERIA Carrer Sant Pau 128, Barcelona (00 34 93 443 0458). A converted sweet shop in the Raval that has kept its original enamelled glass panels of cherubs bearing trays of sweetmeats. LA VINYA DEL SENYOR Plaça Santa Maria 5, Barcelona (00 34 93 310 3379). La Vinya del Senyor is a temple to Spanish wine and cava, the local version of Champagne. Only two or three out of hundreds of cava brands have made it abroad, which makes La Vinya the perfect place to discover its qualities. The wine list is varied and constantly updated, accompanied by cheeses and slices of coca (similar to pizza) and bread with rock salt and olive oil. Apart from Penedès and Rioja, the bar also stocks examples of newly fashionable Priorat, Ribera del Duero and Cigales. Look out for the Luis de Vernier reserve and strange-bottled Xrypta among the cavas, and contemplate the ancient façade of the Gothic Santa Maria del Mar opposite.

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MENDIZABAL Carrer Junta de Comerç 2, Barcelona. Primary-coloured retro bar serving directly onto the street. Medizábal also serves soup on tables in the small square opposite the bar during the winter.

SALERO Rec 60, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 8022). Stylishly informal with a cool warehouse aesthetic and an arty crowd, Salero is one of the Born's most fashionable locales. Created by photographer Elena de la Madrid and her partners, the bar also has a limited choice of carefully prepared and imaginative food.

SCHILLING Ferran 23, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 6787; www.cafeschilling.com). Housed in a former gunsmith's of the same name, Shilling has quickly become a stylish and spacious early-evening meeting spot.

VASO DE ORO Carrer Balboa 6, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 3098) Barcelona has never really been a beer-drinker's town: that title goes to Madrid. But the Vaso de Oro is the exception that proves the rule. The fame of this wood-lined bar in Barceloneta (note the grand collection of German beer jugs) rests on what is undoubtedly the best-pulled beer in town, immaculately served in a tall flauta (flute glass), with a perfect, creamy head. The beer in question is the Barcelona-brewed Estrella Damm, a golden Pilsener with a good, hoppy flavour.

CLUBS

DANZATORIA Avinguda del Tibidabo 61, Barcelona (00 34 93 224 0740). Set high on a hill in a restored manor house, this is where the beautiful people come to party. Expect lush gardens and sumptuously-decorated rooms with modern dance, house and r'n'b playing late into the night.

LUZ DE GAS Muntaner 246, Barcelona (00 34 93 209 7711; www.luzdegas.com). Luz de Gas is a converted dancehall, with live music most nights, including jazz, soul and rock.

MIRABLAU Manuel Arnus 2, Barcelona (00 34 93 418 5879). The Mirablau tapas and cocktail bar and nightclub all command a panorama of the city - perched on top of the Tibidabo hill as it is. There are better clubs than this in Barcelona, but few can offer the equivalent of the Mirablau's views.

MOOG Carrer Arc del Teatre 3, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 1789; www.masimas.net). A house and techno laboratory, Moog is a small club that has played host to some of the best-known techno and house DJs in the world.

OTTO ZUTZ Lincoln 15, Barcelona (00 34 93 238 0722; www.ottozutz.com). A New York-style club on three floors with eight bars and a VIP area, Otto Zutz is a long established survivor of Barcelona's dance scene. It still attracts clubbers from all over the city to village-like Barrio Gràcia. The club gets going after midnight and winds down from 5am. Check the website for opening times.

What to see in Barcelona

BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS

CASA MILÀ Provença 261-265, Barcelona (00 34 902 20 21 38; www.lapedrera.com). The distinct style of Barcelona and its master architect Antoni Gaudí are difficult to miss when walking around the city. Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (The Quarry) and located on the corner of Provença and Passeig de Gràcia, is an apartment block built by Gaudí in 1906. Just as bizarre - but not as gaudy - as much of his other work, this is a good counter-argument to critics who believe that Gaudí exemplified bad taste. The small Espai Gaudí museum is located inside the house, and has featured interesting Goya and Giacometti exhibitions in the past. There is also a superb view from the roof of the house, clad with Darth Vader-like chimneys and host to cultural summer-night events. Check the website for opening times, rates and information on how to get there.

PALAU GUELL Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5, Barcelona (00 34 93 317 3974; www.palauguell.cat). It's worth going off the beaten Gaudí trail to find lesser-known jewels such as this palace, built in 1890 for the industrialist Eusebi Güell in Bacigalupi. From the stern façade's twisting ironwork to the interior's peerless workmanship in wood, marble and stained glass, the Palau Güell is a grim and gorgeous masterpiece. Restoration work is in progress, but part of the building is open to the public.

SANTA MARIA DEL MAR Plaça Santa Maria del Mar 1, Barcelona. The Gothic sensibility runs deep in Barcelona - witness Gaudí, who inherited the Gothic fondness for high arches and quasi-mystical pretensions. The city's most spectacular flowering of the original style is Santa Maria del Mar, built between 1329-1384. It's a parish church on the grandest scale, whose slender columns and soaring roof give an impression of vast and airy space. At night the building is especially dramatic and lovely - for an unforgettable feast of son et lumière, try to catch one of the regular concerts here.

TEMPLE EXPIATORI DE LA SAGRADA FAMILIA Mallorca 401, Barcelona (00 33 902 101 212; www.sagradafamilia.org). Expected to be completed on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death in 2026, Barcelona's unique and enigmatic Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family is Spain's most popular tourist attraction. Gaudí died in 1926 when he was run over by a tram - mistaken for a beggar he was left to die - and is now buried in Sagrada's crypt. All the plans for his unfinished masterpiece were lost in a fire in the Spanish Civil War, and since 1940 the work has been in the hands of architects Francesc Quintana, Puig Boada and Lluís Gari. The basilica is privately owned, and all building funds are donated by the public. The basilica's story so far of can be found in the church's museum, which helps you muse on the mysteries of the work in progress.

FUNDACIO JOAN MIRO Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona (00 34 93 443 9470; www.bcn.fjmiro.es). Joan Miró's work appears all over the city - there is a mural at the airport and a mosaic on La Rambla to mention only two - so this is probably Barcelona's most emblematic gallery. The museum expresses Catalan characteristics in design that the other excellent monothematic galleries, the Museu Picasso and the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, do in more limited ways. Don't miss van der Rohe's reconstructed Barcelona Pavilion while visiting the museum. Check the website for opening times.

MUSEU D'ART CONTEMPORANI DE BARCELONA (MACBA) Placa dels Angels 1, Barcelona (www.macba.es). If the once sordid Barrio Chino, aka the Raval, is now Barcelona's hippest urban area, it is largely thanks to the MACBA, the museum for contemporary art designed by Richard Meier. Its opening, in 1995, ignited the regeneration of this inner-city zone, bringing in art and design where before there was only crime and grime. Check out the fascinating temporary shows, browse the cool souvenir shop, then take to the surrounding streets, which are full of happening bars, galleries, boutiques and restaurants.

MUSEU D'HISTORIA DE LA CIUTAT Plaça del Rei, Barcelona (www.museuhistoria.bcn.es). Tucked away in a quiet square behind the cathedral, the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat takes you right down to the Roman foundations of the city dating from the first century BC. The exhibition route takes you to various parts of the Royal Palace, the residence of the Kings of Aragon in the Middle Ages when the Catalan-Aragonese maritime empire stretched to Sicily, past 13th-century wall paintings and a 15th-century model of the city. Check the website for opening times.

MUSEU NACIONAL D'ART DE CATALUNYA Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona (www.mnac.es). Catalunya was one of the hot spots of the Romanesque style, absorbing influences from Toulouse and Pisa. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, housed in a grand, domed edifice on the top of Montjuïc, proudly showcases this unique heritage. Don't miss the 12th-century murals rescued from churches in the remove Pyrenean valley of Boi, such as the Christ in Majesty from Sant Climent de Taüll (1123), which have a strangeness and beauty that speaks to us directly.

MUSEU PICASSO Montcada 15-23, Barcelona (00 34 93 256 3000; www.museupicasso.bcn.es). Barcelona's Picasso Museum is especially good on the artist's early work - Picasso spent his formative teenage years in Barcelona and donated the paintings found in the museum to the city. The museum has a collection of 3,500 works in their permanent collection, but also features interesting temporary exhibitions - highlighting Picasso's genius. Check the website for opening times.

OTHER

SARDANA Plaça Santa Maria del Mar 1, Barcelona. At around 11am on Sundays, a small crowd gathers to dance the quintessentially Catalan sardana in the square in front of the cathedral. It looks like a slow and sedate warm-up for a Highland fling, the dance is a symbol of Catalan identity.

Things to do in Barcelona

CONCERTS: GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU La Rambla 51-59, Barcelona (00 34 93 485 9900; www.liceubarcelona.com). One of Spain's most highly regarded opera houses (the other being Madrid's Teatro Real), the Liceu has been destroyed by fire twice since it was built in 1847 - the last time in 1994, after which its reigning diva Montserrat Caballe was filmed sobbing among the ruins. Rebuilt with no expense spared, the Liceu is a chocolate-box opera house for the 21st century.

CONCERTS: PALAU DE LA MUSICA CATALANA Carrer Sant Pere Més Alt s/n, Barcelona (00 34 902 442882; www.palaumusica.org). The magnificence of this concert hall, designed in 1905 by Lluis Domènech i Muntaner, has to be seen to be believed. Musicians love it for its clean, clear acoustics and its curious quality of intimacy, extraordinary given its size. Architecture fans love it for its seamless fusion of diverse styles and building techniques. And the rest of us? For the beauty of its stained glass and mosaics, and its wealth of sculptural detail, including the Valkyrie figures that seem to ride above the stage.

EAT: PA AMB TOMAQUET As pastrami on rye is to New York, and fish-and-chips to London, pa amb tomàquet is to Barcelona: a cheap, fast, thoroughly authentic dish that lies close to the city's culinary heart. Essentially, it is bread rubbed with tomato, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, and in many Barcelona restaurants it is brought to the table in place of bread. Best places for a pa amb tomàquet feast: Pinotxo (Mercat de la Boqueria, puesto 66-67, Barcelona; see Where to Eat); Casa Leopoldo (Carrer Sant Rafael 24, Barcelona (www.casaleopoldo.com - see Where to Eat); Taverna Can Margarit (Carrer Concòrdia 21, Barcelona).

EAT: MUSEUM CAFES Barcelona makes a speciality of its secret squares, with cafes where the cognoscenti retreat for a quiet drink, far from traffic and tourists. Some of the best are in museums: the Tèxtil Café in the patio of the Museu Tèxtil (Carrer Montcada 12, Barcelona) is a useful refuge from the heaving Picasso throng across the way, and the café at the Museu Frederic Marès (Plaça Sant lu 5-6, Barcelona), hard by the cathedral, is framed by a miniature square with orange trees and a fountain. The outdoor café at the Museu Maritím (Avinguda de les Drassanes s/n, Barcelona) is planted with shady trees and is a delicious place for a halt on a hot day.

FOOTBALL: CAMP NOU STADIUM Avinguda d'Arístides Maillol s/n, Barcelona (www.fcbarcelona.com). The religion of football in this city has as its own Pantheon the Futbol Club Barcelona and its cathedral is the Camp Nou football ground. With a capacity of 98,787, this is a mightily impressive stadium, and if the chemistry is right (a Barcelona-Real Madrid match is always a winner) there is nothing to beat its supercharged atmosphere. Daily guided tours offer the chance to explore the club's museum, to inspect the dressing rooms, and even to tread the sacred turf where Henri, Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Deco have strutted their stuff.

VIEWS: CABLE-CAR RIDE It might mark you out as a tourist, but so what? There's no better way to catch a thrilling view of the city, harbour, sea or mountains. The teleférico departs from the Eiffel-esque tower of San Sebastià in the old port, swinging its way high across the harbour before eventually landing on the heights of Miramar. There are also fine cable-car rides from the Avinguda Parallel up to the Parc de Montjuïc, and from there to the recently restored Montjuïc Castle.

WALKS: BARCELONETA With gentrification engulfing Gràcia, the Born and the Raval, only one of the city centre's working-class neighbourhoods remains as such: Barceloneta, the old fishing quarter. It still smells of salt and fried fish, but change is in the air. Witness the new, post-industrial market building on Plaça de la Font, home to the Michelin-starred restaurant Lluçanès (00 34 93 224 2525; www.restaurantllucanes.com).

Where to shop in Barcelona

BEAUTY

SEPHORA Del Triangle, Calle Pelayo 13-37, Barcelona (www.sephora.es). The huge 22,000sq-ft beauty haven, located in the 'Triangle' shopping block, receives an average of 24,000 visitors per day tempted by the vast range of perfumes, make-up and skincare products.

BOOKS

LIBRERIA LA CENTRAL Mallorca 237, Barcelona (00 34 902 884 990; www.lacentral.com). La Central was founded in the belief that a bookshop proprietor should have a steady and influential relationship with his customers. The venue for numerous literary launches, La Central has a small selection of books in English. The staff is extremely helpful.

EL CORTE INGLES Plaça de Catalunya 14, Barcelona (www.elcorteingles.com). Spain's only national department store is famed for stocking almost everything. There are a few other El Corte Ingles houses in Barcelona, but the one on Plaça de Catalunya is the largest and offers everything from gourmet food and household goods to bridal wear. Open daily.

L'ILLA DIAGONAL Avinguda Diagonal 555-559, Barcelona (www.lilla.com). This stylish complex is filled mostly with small shops but also houses one of the city's two FNAC stores, a ZARA and Spanish designer Purificacíon García.

GROC Rambla Catalunya 100, Barcelona. Antonio Miró, Barcelona's best-known tailor (see above), sells his irresistibly stylish and elegant suits in this shop, as well as a range of women's fashion - including clothes by Dolce & Gabbana. Miró's clothes can be bought off the peg or custom-made.

JANINA Rambla Catalunya 94, Barcelona (00 34 93 215 0484; www.janinalenceria.com/). Janina's lingerie is classic, stylish and up to the minute in terms of fashion trends. The shop also carries a selection of pieces by La Perla, Eres, Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Spanish brands such as Andreas Sarda.

JOFRE Carrer Francesc Pérez i Cabrero, Barcelona (www.jofre.es). Jofré is a notably Catalan phenomenon: a fashion empire based almost exclusively in the region, catering for clients between (let's say) 30 and 60. Three shops in the well-to-do Sant Gervasi district (all in Carrer Francesc Pérez i Cabrero) are joined by a menswear boutique in the same area (Carrer Bori i Fontestà 2, Barcelona), with clothes and accessories by Paul Smith, Prada, Marc Jacobs et al, in a suitably design-tastic setting.

LA MANUAL ALPARGATERA Carrer d'Avinyo 7, Barcelona (00 34 93 301 0172; www.lamanualalpargatera.com). This famous espadrille shop started out as a workshop and now serves star clients like Catherine Zeta Jones. The handmade shoes come in countless colours and styles and are great for walking over cobblestones. They also pack very neatly, one shoe hugging the other.

NO TE NOM Carrer de la Princesa, 25, 08003 Barcelona (00 34 93 4876 084). The No Té Nom (Catalan for 'it has no name') collection has a modern look and is produced in hi-tech fabrics. The shop also stocks a good mix of desirable designers, Helmut Lang and Valentino to mention two, and a number of design objects such as funky lamps, accessories and fun ceramics.

ON LAND Carrer Valencia 273, Barcelona (00 34 93 215 5625; www.on-land.com). Streetwise, urban unisex clothing by the best of fresh young talent.

FOOD

CAELUM Carrer Palla 8, Barcelona (00 34 93 302 6993). This shop specialises in food and drink made in convents and monasteries. Caelum has a medieval twist, and a good selection of cava.

CASA GISPERT Carrer Sombrerers 23, Barcelona (00 34 93 319 7535; www.casagispert.com). The shop opened in 1851, and has survived unscathed during Spain's dramatic history. Few things have changed inside since the 19th-century, and you can still find dry fruit and other goods to snack on or bring back home.

COLMADO QUILEZ Rambla Catalunya 63, Barcelona. Fabulous food emporium, highly recommended for its huge selection of Spanish and European preserves, tinned foods, 30 sorts of olive oil and an exceptional stock of alcoholic drinks, including more than 90 varieties of cava and 300 different beers.

ESCRIBA Rambla 83, Barcelona (00 34 93 301 6027; www.escriba.es). Pastry and confectionary shop Escriba on La Rambla is housed in one of the most beautiful Art Deco buildings in town. Try 'La Rambla', the house speciality, a truffle and chocolate biscuit that serves four to five people - while sitting outside the shop on the sunny terrace.

VILA VINITECA Carrer Agullers 7, Barcelona (00 34 90 237777 017;www.vilaviniteca.es). Quim (pronounced Kim) Vila grew up in the Ribera district of the Old Town, where his parents ran a grocery store. His own business, Vila Viniteca, is a dream of a wine shop, with knowledgeable, friendly staff to guide you through its vast selection. Exceptionally strong on Spanish wines, it's a great places to check out new Catalan denominaciónes such as Priorat, Monsant and Terra Alta.

CERERIA SUBIRA Baixada de Libreteria 7, Barcelona (00 34 93 315 2606). Founded in 1761, this shop occupies the oldest retail premises in Barcelona. The wooden interior has remained untouched for more than 200 years and makes a fine backdrop for the impressive array of candles offered by the shop.

MARKETS

LA BOQUERIA Barcelona (www.boqueria.info). One of the best food markets in the world can be found halfway down on La Rambla. La Boqueria, which at 6,000 sq metres is the largest market in Spain, is one of Barcelona's unmissable sights and not only because the stalls are piled high with every edible goody under the sun - the market occupies a prime piece of real estate a few hundred metres from Plaça Catalunya. There are no less than 72 fruit and vegetable stalls in the market, providing a break from an age of hypermarkets and cook-chill nastiness. Go in the morning when the market is at its most animated and the market workers tuck into esmorzars de forquilla (literally 'fork breakfast' featuring pig's feet, tripe and bacon). Look out for Montse's exotic fruit stall at number 502, Peixos Marta's fish at 721, Mariscos Genaro's shellfish at 744, and Especialitats Salaons' salt cod, cured tuna roe, and salted herring at 737. Head to Cansaladeria Mateo López at 395-397 for Iberian ham and pork products, to Salvador Capdevilia's game specialities at 707 and Lorenç Petrà's Fruits del Bosc at 867 for a lesson on mushrooms.

MERCAT SANTA CATERINA Avinguda Fracesc Cambó, Barcelona (www.mercatsantacaterina.net). Almost every Barcelona barrio has its own covered market, and Santa Caterina is one of the best, with produce to rival the famous Boqueria. After years in decline, the market reopened in 2005 with a splendid new undulating mosaic roof and a new generation of customers reflecting the changing social profile of the Ribera neighbourhood. Cuines Santa Caterina is the hip market restaurant, with high ceilings and big, wooden tables for sharing.

The best things to do near Barcelona

LA ROCA VILLAGE La Roca Village, 08430 La Roca Del Vallès, Barcelona (www.larocavillage.com;). Located about 30km from Barcelona along Autopista A7, this outlet village has about 60 shops selling brands like Antonio Miró, Camper, Loewe and Versace. The discounts are up to 60 per cent, and the village has a playground to keep the kids happy.

SITGES A short train ride from the capital, a seaside resort with lively nightlife and a large gay community... Ring any bells? Yes, Sitges is Barcelona's Brighton. A perfect escape from the city heat, this former fishing village retains its small-town charm. The annual Festival Internacional de Cinema is heaven for fans of weird and/or scary movies, while the carnival is a camp fiesta. Stay at the Hotel Subur Marítim (Passeig Marítim s/n, Sitges; 00 34 93 894 1550; www.hotelsuburmaritim.com), a pleasant four-star right on the seafront. Visit www.sitgestour.com for more information.